Alexandra Husivargova Theofanidis (1988) graduated in Psychology at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava in 2012. Her diploma thesis dealt with cultural differences in 17 nations from Europe, Asia and Australia focus on self-esteem, well-being, lying, free-time, notion of afterlife and financial satisfaction (thesis title: “Intercultural comparison of differences in self-esteem, well-being and its attributes in population of employed young adults”). The results of her diploma thesis received very positive reviews both consultant as well as thesis opponent, and she was awarded with the Dean’s prize. Her bachelor thesis was on prisoners imprisoned in Dubnica nad Vahom (thesis title: Difference in choice of authority between convicted offenders and people without a criminal record). After completing her university studies she lived 3 years abroad working in other field and studying languages.
From July 2016 to 2025, she was a junior researcher at Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, a member of Dr Iveta Nagyova’s team at the Department of Social and Behavioural Medicine and a PhD student at the University of Groningen. Her research focus is on the research of non-pharmacological interventions in patients with musculoskeletal diseases with special emphasis on rheumatoid arthritis. She defended her PhD Thesis at the University of Groningen (RuG), the Netherlands in December 2024, and currently she works as a senior researcher at the Department of Social and Behavioural Medicine UPJS.
“The greatest mistake in the treatment of diseases is that there are physicians for the body and physicians for the soul, although the two cannot be separated.” Plato (427–347 BC)
PhD project title: The challenges of rheumatoid arthritis: the need for a biopsychosocial approach
Team members: Prof. Dr. Robbert Sanderman; Dr. Iveta Nagyova; Dr. Dagmar Breznoscakova, MD; Dr. Zelmira Macejova, MD; Dr. Joke Fleer